Tangled Battle
by Dragon of Dusk
Summary: When captured and experimented on, who can you turn to when surrounded by aliens?  Life was simple, but now everything just seems twisted and convoluted.  I hardly even remember what I am.  It...thing...Lee...human.  Only, I'm not human anymore.


A/N: Ok…I'm biting the bullet here and tossing up the first re-written chapter. I'm not very confident about how it turned out…but I can't keep it away forever. As a warning to anyone who has read the old version, this one is very different.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Predator nor am I trying to gain money off of it. I only own Lee, Topaz, Darcy, and Jake.

Being brought from the encompassing darkness of sleep because something jostled your body is never a wonderful way to start the day.

Unfortunately, that is just how my day started.

Groaning, I buried my head deeper into my pillow and tried to ignore the monstrosity that was my cat. Easily weighting 25 pounds or more, the black Maine Coon had decided to take up a residence on my leg.

I could already feel the pins and needles starting in my foot.

Deciding to risk it, I pulled my head away from my pillow and glared at him. He gave me an even look with those golden eyes that plainly stated: 'Feed me or your leg is forfeit.'

With another groan I somehow managed to shake him off of me, along with the covers, and sat up. "Fine, I'm up you lazy bum!" My tone held no true ill will in it…there was no way I could be mad at the fat fuzz ball. Topaz purred thickly when my hand found that special spot under his chin that he loved to have scratched.

I smiled then stood up, allowing myself a moment to stretch and yawn before I was graced by my own reflection in the mirror across from my bed.

The creature blinked back at me. Its sickly pale face was framed by an untamable mass of dark brown hair that only accented the purple bags under dull hazel eyes. My finger came up and poked at the space bellow my eye sockets.

Had I really slept that poorly?

Pressure against my legs added with a demanding meow brought my attention back down to the demon that woke me up.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, I'll feed you just give me a few moments here."

Topaz gave me an indignant look.

XxX

Ah, warm Slim-fast. Nothing better.

I grimaced as the last of the disgusting liquid slid down my throat.

God no breakfast at all would have been better than that just then. My protesting stomach seemed to agree full heartedly causing a moan to escape me before my head found the solid surface of the table in front of me.

It was so NOT my fault that I had been in too much of a rush to have a decent meal back at my apartment.

…Ok so maybe it was but still… I just hate being late…or on time apparently, seeing as how I was sitting at a table outside of the café right next to my first lecture hall 10 minutes before said lecture was going to be given.

Well…I could always take a walk around the campus, it wasn't that big after all and it had some very, very nice greenery. Ah no scratch that…I don't think I could've moved my pinky if I'd wanted to.

Crap I need tea…or caffeine…either one.

Speaking of which…

The wonderful smell of coffee urged me to look up. A young woman with brown, pixie cut hair and a round face grinned down at me, well, more like somewhat down, she wasn't all that tall. Her brown eyes sparkled mischievously. "Rough morning hun?"

I grumbled at her and couldn't stop myself from leaning towards the wonderful smell that was emanating from the travelers mug in her hand.

Her laugh was airy and musical as she forked it over. "Here, don't scald your tongue."

Of course she would say that too late…I did anyway, gulping down the delicious caffeine filled liquid. I didn't care though; the feeling in my tongue would come back by lunch…maybe. A heavy sigh left my lips gratefully as I handed the mug back to her. "Thanks Darcy…you're an angel."

The spunky girl smirked knowingly then plunked down into the seat across from me.

Now that I was waking up, I finally noted that she was wearing her Navy uniform as compared to the 'cute' and somewhat revealing cloths that she usually had on her. I frowned. "I thought you weren't shipping out for another week?"

The smirk fell from her lips immediately and she glanced to the mug in her hand. "They're calling us out early…some kind of emergency I think…"

My frowned deepened at her very vague and mumbled answer. Well great. I was losing her sooner than I thought. Sure I've gone to art conventions for an expanded period of time, but that wasn't the same as her leaving on a freaking battle cruiser to go to whatever little overseas war that was being fought. And her answer didn't ease me any. Either she didn't know jack about what they'd called her for or she knew too much and it was classified.

I did, however know that there had recently been a lot of military hype about an explosion in Alaska that happened a few months ago. I think there had also been something about a lone survivor who refused to talk to the press. I had no clue why but for some reason I felt that Darcy's early shipment might be related to it.

Darcy was my closest friend, hell she was practically my sister! I didn't want her to leave and get hurt or worse.

These thoughts were giving me a headache and making me depressed at the same time.

So I decided to dwell upon something else…like the fact that she had promised (more like threatened) to haul me off for a massive clothing revamp this weekend. It wasn't that much of an improvement from my previous thoughts, I could care less about cloths…which is a funny thing due to me being the artist and her being military personnel.

"You know that when I get back I'm going to attack you with all kinds of foreign cloths and then drag you shopping right?"

Damn she could be such a mind reader at times…but then again we had known each other for a while now.

I blinked and brought my attention back to her. She was grinning again with a playful twinkle in her eyes.

A good-natured groan was her answer as I rolled my eyes heavenward. From my peripheral vision I could see her grin widen. "You know just as well as I do hun that you desperately need a wardrobe makeover."

My lower lip poked out into a pout and I sulked, meekly looking down at my black 'gladiator' sandals, deep brown sweat pants, and shirt that happened to read "Feed the Starving Artist." And, of course, who could forget the forest green jacket that I've owned for a very long time.

"Well I don't see any problems with my wardrobe." was the sulky reply that I gave my friend.

She gave me another one of her musical laughs and looked to her watch. "Come on 'beautiful', we'd better go or we'll be late for the lecture."

Now that made me smile. So I still had some of today with her, good…I wasn't ready to see my best friend leave me for a long time. I pushed my chair back and stretched lazily while Darcy grabbed her things.

As we left with our bags slung over our shoulders, I brushed aside the odd waver of light that ghosted across the bushes next to our once occupied table as a trick of my tired eyes.

XxX

"Awww come on Lee…just one date!"

Warning, warning! Impending migraine at twelve o'clock!

I hissed in annoyance and rubbed my throbbing temple. It was getting harder to focus on the lecture and that was not good. Finals were in a few days and I needed to study, BADLY. Especially since this was Advanced Mathematics which happened to be one of my most hated subjects.

The pest known as Jake, however seemed to be doing everything in his power to keep this from happening. I seriously hoped that he failed, seeing as how he wasn't paying a lick of attention to what the professor was saying.

My eyes glanced over his slicked back dirty blonde hair to the clock that rested on the wall. There were only a few more minutes until I could finally go back to my apartment and sleep.

Gah, why can't time go faster?

"Heeey Brit-Lee!"

Oh my god that was it! I think my eye was starting to twitch. I hated it when people mixed my old name with my new name…and the hand that was waving in front of my face was NOT winning Jake any brownie points.

My face settled into a deathly glare as I trace the hand back to his stupid face. He grinned like nothing bad was about to happen, showing off his perfectly straight and bleached teeth.

"Ok first off-" I hope that the professor can't hear me; luckily I do know that Jake can hear me from the way his grin faltered some.

Oh so you finally noticed the death glare? Nice you moron. "-I have a massive migraine, so shut up."

His open mouth closed suddenly.

"Secondly, I won't go on a date with you because I. Don't. Like. You." I've already told him this multiple times before so I made sure to say it slowly with a lot of punch behind each word. His face was turning into a frown, like he wanted to argue on that point. My new glare stopped him short.

"And thirdly…Don't, I repeat, DON'T ever call me that again."

"And that is all for today class."

Hallelujah! With that said and done, I allowed the heel of my foot to connect harshly with the arch of Jake's.

His howl drew many stares but I was already up with my things and heading towards the door. Who would have thought that hearing him cuss on the way out would be so much fun to listen too?

I couldn't help but smirk as I trotted across the hall to where Darcy was leaning against the wall with her eyebrow raised.

She fell instep beside me when I slowed down. "What'd you do to him?"

My smirk was still glued in place, which kind of destroyed the innocent look I threw her. "I only stepped on his foot…"

Darcy rolled her eyes and snorted, "Sounds more like you stabbed his foot."

The sun hit both of us as we passed through the threshold of the door. I was forced to cover my sensitive eyes from the glare. Argh…as much as I appreciate the lovely weather that we've been having…I still really hated the sun.

"Hm…speaking of stabbing in the foot…you did remember to take your meds right?"

I pouted and glared at her from the corners of my still watering eyes. She was giving me her wonderful 'no-nonsense' look. "Oh come on Darcy! I only have a minor headache-" ok that was a lie seeing as how I did forget to take my migraine medication at lunch, "and I haven't punched anyone-"

Her look twisted some and I had to slightly change my train of thought.

"-Stepping on Jake's foot doesn't count!"

At that she rolled her eyes again. "Just as long as you remember for once…I'm not going to be here to nag you into taking them."

Ok good mood shot down like that. A weight settled in my stomach as I remembered that she was leaving…like now. It wasn't fair, why did she have to leave? She wasn't even fully out of college yet and they had called her into duty!

My thoughts were spiraling in a circle that just made my chest hurt horribly.

God why did it have to hurt so much? This sucked.

She stopped and grabbed my arm to turn me to face her. I tried to keep the disappointment from my face. The sad look in her eyes told me that I had failed though.

"I will be coming back in one piece, you know."

I could only nod dumbly.

Her smile did little to lighten my mood as she hugged me tightly then turned on her heel and left before I could say a single word.

I followed her with my eyes until her small form disappeared behind one of the bushes that were in front of the parking lot.

We both hate saying goodbye anyway. It feels way too final.

I forced my mind to stop running in a circle about things that I couldn't control. I needed to focus on something else, like what I needed to do next. I needed to focus on something that wouldn't make my chest ache.

Topaz suddenly popped into my head and I knew that I needed to get back to the apartment before he ate the furniture…or worse. I couldn't help but cringe at the thought of having to explain the smell to my landlord.

She would never forgive me after that.

So with that decided, I turned and marched in the direction of my living quarters while adjusting the bag on my shoulder into a more comfortable position.

The campus really is a beautiful place, I thought. Trees and flowers litter the sides of the walkways like they do in the movies at the mansions and stuff. There's even a little pavilion in the very center of the campus and it's surrounded by these huge rosemary bushes. It's a wonderful study hidey-hole that, unfortunately, everyone on campus knows about.

Being there was like living in a whole different dimension as compared to the harsh smog infested likes of the downtown area that it was settled in.

I took a deep breath of the wonderful fresh air.

Yup…this place was like an oasis in the middle of a scorching desert.

What stopped my thought process though was the absence of chirping birds as well as insects. It was unusually quiet, and when I stole a glance around, I saw that there were no squirrels running around and that I was completely alone.

My pace quickened as an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. This was ridiculous! I was working myself up due to the stress of Darcy leaving…that was it…yeah…totally the reason why I felt so helplessly alone surrounded by eerily silent wildlife-

And footsteps coupled with deep breathing right behind me.

Heart hammering nearly out of my chest, I whirled around to face nothing but empty air. This is so stupid! I have to be hallucinating or something from too much stress and not enough sleep.

Despite those thoughts however, I slowly started to walk backwards, eyes never leaving the area in front of me.

A thought then struck me…and pissed me off at the same time. "Jake if you're stalking me just to creep me into going on a date with you I so SWEAR that I will beat you black and blue!"

My loud exclamation was answered by a resounding nothing but wind blowing through the trees and…something that sounded like a click?

Eyes widening to what felt like tennis balls, I turned and ran like hell. My brain was screaming 'Gun!' at me and I knew better than to just stand there and look stupid.

A voice in my head that sounded oddly like Darcy began to talk to me. 'Make yourself a smaller target; it's harder to shoot you that way.' Her voice was eerily calm and the logic in my head said that while the voice was right, I was going crazy for even hearing it in the first place.

I ignored logic and latched onto what had been said. Make myself a smaller target? That's easy for her to say considering that she's only 4'8".

I was almost to the street before I realized that no shots had gone off and no one was following me.

What…in the world?

A stubborn anger coursed through my veins and I turned around to face the direction that I had come from. Everything was still eerily silent and only the wind moved the greenery around me.

My bag slipped from my shoulder and I held it tightly in my right hand, ready to swing at a moment's notice. My left hand curled itself into a tight fist and I could feel the sweat building up on my palms, forehead and back.

I swallowed thickly and forced my voice to come out steady. "Alright whoever you are! I'm not afraid of you're stupid scare-tactics so just show yourself!"

The wind was all I heard for a minute until there was another soft click from right in front of me.

I jerked back in surprise and swung my bag without fully thinking.

There was a solid 'thunk' as about 20 pounds worth of books and binders hit something approximately three feet away from me. Waves rippled from where my bag had made and impact and showed the shimmering outline of a tall, masculine figure.

My body froze, chills running down my spine causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand straight up. I could feel my eyes go wide with shock. That shouldn't be possible!

An annoyed trill filled my hearing as the ripples disappeared. I took one shaky step back, trying to find a logical explanation for what I had just seen.

All of my previous anger had left me with a cold lump in the pit of my stomach. I took another step back and my foot bumped something. With a glance down, I saw a hefty branch and I dove for it.

The bark bit into my sweaty palms thanks to the tight grip I had on it. My knuckles were turning white I think but that didn't matter at the moment. I let my head swivel slowly from side to side, trying to find any trace of the odd shimmer I had seen.

I just needed to get back to my apartment…I had to be suffering from mild hallucinations due to stress.

I needed sleep…my doctor would probably agree before shipping me off to a crazy hospital if I told her about this.

With a deep breath, I inched towards my fallen bag, my eyes constantly darting around. The branch was still being held like a baseball bat in my hands even when my feet touched the rough material that housed my books.

I couldn't calm my pounding heart as I reached down with one hand to snatch up my bag.

Something moved to my left and I swung the branch; it broke against nothing and I bolted.

Terror seized my limbs when I heard a loud hiss that prompted me to move faster. I didn't get very far though.

I felt the front of my jacket jerk into my neck, causing my momentum to slow drastically. I choked from the momentary pressure, coughing as air refused to go into my lungs properly. Amazingly, and almost in a dreamlike haze, I felt my body start to move backwards through the air.

It snapped back into harsh reality though when my side hit the ground. My head cracked against something hard and I rolled, my vision distorted until my back came to a harsh stop against the base of a tree. Everything spun and it took me a second to realize through my pain that I had been thrown.

Thrown by something that I could not see.

Either that or someone had slipped some massive drugs into my lunch and I was going to die of an overdose of hysteria.

Oh God…I didn't want to die.

As I lay in the grass though, I found it hard to keep my eyes open and my thoughts coherent. I was just so tired…and everything ached…

I wanted to sleep.

I wanted to put this weird day behind me and move on.

I wanted to sleep…

Sleep…

XxX

The constant beep of my alarm clock roused my out of my sleep and into the wonderful world of wakefulness.

My entire body ached horribly and I kept my eyes closed for a while longer, begging sleep to take me back into its arms once more.

When it didn't I cracked open my eyes, to stare at a grey ceiling. Thankfully there were no bright lights to aggravate my already pounding head. I must have forgotten to take my migraine medicine once again.

Man, Darcy was going to kill me if she found out.

I heaved out a heavy sigh and lifted my right arm to rub the sleep out of my eyes but I froze, my brain finally waking up more. My apartment didn't have a grey ceiling.

Slowly, I lowered my arm back down and spread my palm out against something solid and not my mattress. I frowned; trying to remember what might have happened the night before and where I might be before I decided to look around.

Did I go out to a bar and decide to get drunk randomly? Usually I would go with Darcy but-

Then everything came slamming back.

I jerked up and nearly screamed in pain when something pulled at the skin on my neck and left arm.

I reached up and felt along the side of my neck, goose bumps flourishing across my arms as my fingers brushed what felt like an IV cord. Panic crept up from the edges of my mind and I couldn't keep it down.

The beeping that I had first thought was my alarm clock got faster.

It was in time with my heartbeat.

My fingers wrapped around it and yanked. I cried out but I couldn't help it, I was like a wild, hurt animal that had been trapped. The panic had gripped me fully and it wouldn't let go.

The needle was tossed to the side and I ignored the small trickle of warmth on my neck in favor of looking at all the wires that seemed to weave in and out of my left arm.

The panic was worse now, gripping my chest in a vice hold that had my heart screaming for more oxygen. My vision swam with it but I was already yanking the damned things out like they were ticks.

I noted that the beeping died abruptly, but I didn't dwell on it.

My arm was bleeding but I couldn't focus.

I was hyperventilating.

Somewhere in the back of my mind Darcy's voice was telling me to, 'calm the fuck down' but I couldn't. Not with wires sticking out of me, not with the thoughts of hospital and lab echoing through my head.

I gasped and wrapped my arms tightly under my chest, barely registering that I was wearing nothing but a sheet.

Breathe in…breathe out…breathe in…breathe out.

I'm not sure how long I sat there trying to calm myself into a normal state of being. My mind stopped buzzing with the need for oxygen though and I became confident that I wouldn't pass out or freak anymore.

Slowly I looked up, pushing my slick hair away from my sweaty face with a shaking hand. I was in a grey room with dim lighting that cast shadows in every corner. Machines of some kind lined the far wall with eerie red lights that flashed every now and again.

I watched them, fascinated for a while before I brought my gaze to my closer surroundings.

There was another table across from the one I was currently on. It held what I could only guess were tools of some kind…one of them happened to remind me of a very large scalpel.

I licked my dry lips and slid off the table, making sure to bring the sheet with me to cover my indecency.

My feet touched the warm metal ground but when I tried to put weight on them, my legs turned to jelly and I went toppling over.

I hit the ground with a painful thud, dragging some of the needles and wires with me. They made a louder, clanging sound that had me holding my breath in fear. Obviously someone had brought me here, and I was making one hell of a ruckus that would bring them right back to me.

Great, just what I needed to think about.

I stayed still, my side crying bitterly at me until I was sure that the noises around me had nothing to do with footsteps.

My hand pushed my stringy hair out of my face once again and I could feel the fact that my eyes were wide. I could only imagine what I looked like...actually scratch that, I didn't want to even think about what I looked like at the moment.

Cautiously, I scooted myself backwards and reached up, fumbling until I found the edge of the table. I secured the sheet in my other hand as I heaved myself back onto my feet, swaying some but not falling this time.

Shakily, I tied the sheet into a more secure position so that both of my hands were free to do as they pleased.

Red lights blinked across my skin and illuminated the floor better for me as I shuffled over to the other table. I don't care if there was no one here in the room with me; I wanted something to defend myself with.

The 'scalpel' taunted me until my fingers closed around its handle. It was more like a dagger now that I was looking at it up in person. The metal was warm under my clammy skin.

Something clicked then hissed to my right.

I whirled with both hands clutching the scalpel out in front of me, and watched as the wall parted like a door, revealing a tall shadowy figure.

My breath caught in my throat again and I began to tremble.


End file.
